1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a portable golf club head cleaner and, more particularly, is concerned with a manual operated cleaner which contacts the club head with a moving brush and simultaneously sprays liquid on the club head.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years there has been a substantial increase in participation in leisure sporting activities, including the game of golf. Golf has proved to be a popular past time with an ever increasing number of participants taking up the game. It often occurs that in playing the game, the golf club head will become embedded with dirt, sand and other foreign materials. These materials can clog up the grooves cut into the face of the golf club head and can prevent proper contact between the club head and the golf ball. Furthermore, as the golf club head is generally precision balanced for optimum hitting force, these foreign materials are an impediment to improved play of the game.
Often participants carry along a cloth or the like to wipe the club head clean after it becomes clogged with foreign materials. As well, at times a golf tee is used to scrape out foreign material stuck in the grooves of the face of the golf club head. These cleaning methods are not usually satisfactory in cleaning the club head. The cloth soon becomes soiled from repeated use and cannot then be used. The hands of the participant also may become dirty through these cleaning methods. Furthermore, none of these cleaning methods provide a water source to assist in the cleaning process.
In the past, devices have been constructed for cleaning golf club heads. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,952 by Parchment et al discloses a golf club head cleaner which includes a tub for holding a cleaning solution with a plurality of brushes inside the tub. The club head is placed in the tub and moved upwardly and downwardly by the user to clean the club head. The Parchment device requires up and down movement of the golf club to clean it. This movement can damage the club if too much pressure is placed on it in moving it up and down. As well, liquid in the container will be lost with vigorous up and down motion. As well, there is no spray action of pumped water on the club head.
Another example of previous devices used to clean a golf club head is U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,851 by Kinsey. A rotating brush is provided to clean the club head and, simultaneously cleaning fluid is applied to the golf club head. The device must be attached to a source of pressurized water to rotate the brush. Consequently, this device is not readily used on a golf course when the club head is most likely to become soiled as this device is not portable. Furthermore, it is difficult to control the speed of the brush rotation and such a cleaner can be dangerous to operate and may spray dirty cleaning fluid and/or water on the user.